Results tagged ‘ Alex Periard ’

Third baseman Mat Gamel conceded this morning that he tried to come back too early from a sore right shoulder. Now it appears he will be sidelined a few more days.

Gamel first complained of some soreness last week and was held out of Cactus League games for the first three days of the schedule. He said he was ready to play by Saturday but was asked to wait, then got an extra day of rest Sunday. when the Brewers-Reds game was rained out. So it came as some surprise to manager Ken Macha that Gamel was forced to exit Monday’s game against the Mariners in the third inning with a sore shoulder.

“I guess it’s not ready yet,” Gamel said. “It was feeling better. I guess I just rushed it. … But it’s better to miss a couple now than a couple later.”

He would have preferred to not miss any at all. Gamel also missed time last spring with a sore throwing shoulder — he says this injury is different — and then saw his numbers slip after the Brewers began bouncing him between Triple-A and the big league bench beginning in May.

Officially, Gamel is competing for a spot on the big league roster this spring and he remains the team’s top option behind incumbent starter Casey McGehee. There is some pressure, then, to be out on the field.

“You can’t make a team in the training room,” he lamented. “They need you healthy.”

Macha agreed.

“Let’s make sure we nip this in the bud so he can give himself a chance,” Macha said. “If it happens again and he’s going to be out two weeks, we’ve got coverage. We’ve got other guys we can put on the team.”

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Assuming we stay dry, here is the lineup for today’s game against the Cubs:

Lucroy is starting today but Macha has been focusing lately on evaluating George Kottaras and Matt Treanor, who may have a leg up on the backup catcher battle.

“They each give you a little bit different look,” Macha said. “Kottaras, watching him take [batting practice], he’s got pretty sizeable power when he gets hold of one and he’s a left-handed hitter, which is nice to have. … Treanor, I really like the way he throws the ball and blocks the ball in the dirt. So you’ve got two kind of different styles, or what they bring to the table is a little different.”

What will influence Macha’s decision?

“I want to take a look and see what Zaun does as the spring goes on,” he said. “That may be a determining factor. I’m open if a guy goes out there and is head and shoulders above everybody.”

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Macha offered praise for Minor League first baseman Steffan Wilson, who garnered a last-minute invitation to big league camp to help back up Fielder at first base.

“He’s been impressive,” Macha said. “Intense guy. He was taking his warm-up swings and he’s looking like Mike Sweeney more every day. Big, strong first baseman. Hits the ball all over the ballpark.”

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Lockers stood empty Tuesday morning where pitching prospects Eric Arnett, Kyle Heckathorn and Alex Periard had dressed. All three pitchers were cut from big league camp on Monday to continue their preparation on the Minor League side. Macha said that Monday morning’s B game prevented pitching coach Rick Peterson from giving the young men a proper send-off, but Peterson planned to stop by the Minor League complex for a chat.

The Brewers made their first Spring Training camp on Monday, when right-hander Alex periard was optioned to Double-A Huntsville and righties Eric Arnett and Kyle Heckathorn were returned to Minor League camp.

Arnett and Heckathorn were Milwaukee’s top two picks in last summer’s First-Year Player Draft and their camp invitations were part of their contracts. Neither appeared in an official Cactus League game.

“It’s been exciting, and I’m just going to try to get back here next year,” Arnett said a few days earlier.

Periard, who got his first taste of big league camp in 2009 but was sidelined at that time by a shoulder injury, made his lone appearance this year on Saturday against the Rockies. He was charged with three earned runs in two innings.

With Monday’s moves, the Brewers have 54 players in Major League camp.

Steve Braun, the younger brother of Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun, fractured his ankle in Class A Wisconsin’s extra-inning win on Saturday and could miss the rest of the season, the Appleton Post-Crescent is reporting.

“I’m assuming,” Timber Rattlers manager Jeff Isom told the newspaper. “I don’t know that for a fact. There’s nothing he can do here for us. He’ll be on his way somewhere, some place. I don’t know where – Arizona or back home. There’s not much you can do when you have a fracture.”

Braun fractured his ankle during a squeeze play situation in which he broke to the plate and then retreated when the Chiefs called for a pitchout.

He joined the club earlier this month when second baseman Brett Lawrie was placed on the disabled list after undergoing minor nose surgery and performed well enough to keep his roster spot.

Braun hit .265 (nine hits in 34 at-bats) and drove in four in 12 games.

“He came in and exceeded my expectations,” Isom said. “And I think from the organization standpoint, he exceeded their expectations, as well. He was a tough out. He did a very good job in the field for us when Brett had his injury.

“The way he played the game, we had to continue putting him in the lineup. I liked the way he went about his business, a real professional. He played the game hard, and that goes a long way with me.”

The same report updated the status of outfielder Chris Dennis, who also suffered an ankle injury in the game. Dennis’ agent, Josh Kusnick, who just told me that the player has a tendon injury and could miss 4-6 weeks.

Kusnick, many of you know, also represents top pitching prospect Jeremy Jeffress, who faces a 100-game suspension after failing his second drug test. Major League Baseball will probably make the announcement early this week.

Presumably to fill Jeffress’ spot at Class A Brevard County, the Brewers promoted another Kusnick client, right-hander Alex Periard from Wisconsin. Periard started the season late because of a shoulder injury but posted a 3.18 ERA in his three starts for Isom and the Timber Rattlers.

Braun and Dennis remain on Wisconsin’s active roster at the moment while the organization ponders roster moves.

–The team gave oft-injured former No. 1 pick Mike Jones the option of
starting another year at Class A Brevard County or taking his release,
and he wanted to keep pitching. Jones, the 12th overall pick in the 2001 Draft, will turn 26 on April 23 and has been dogged throughout his pro career by shoulder and elbow injuries. Fellow star-crossed former first-round
pick Mark Rogers should also begin the year at Brevard County.

— Club officials had considered assigning Wisconsin native Vinny Rottino to Double-A Huntsville so he could play third base every day, but they thought it might upset him. They were happy when Rottino brought up the idea himself.

– Playing time at Huntsville opened up for Rottino because prospect Taylor Green is “taking longer than we thought” to return from offseason wrist surgery, Melvin said. The Brewers don’t expect him back until June, and Green may be asked to return to the Arizona Fall League at the end of the season.

– Another Wisconsin native, right-handed pitcher R.J. Seidel, is out for the year with a knee injury. He slipped on some ice during the winter and “tore up” his knee, Melvin said, and underwent surgery. Fellow pitching prospects Zach Braddock and Alex Periard will also miss the start of the season with injuries. Periard was sidelined all spring by a sore right shoulder, but Melvin was not sure of the nature of the left-hander Braddock’s injury, but he did have offseason surgery. Both Braddock and Periard should be able to pitch in 2009.

– The Triple-A Nashville Sounds roster is available here. The Class A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers roster is available here. I have not seen rosters for Huntsville or Brevard County just yet.

This time it has afflicted right-hander Omar Aguilar, who was added to the 40-man roster over the winter and is a candidate to close games for Nashville. Aguilar has been shut down with a strained muscle in his side, an ailment that has sidelined the likes of Brewers closer Trevor Hoffman and starter Braden Looper this spring.

There is no timetable for his return to the mound, according to assistant GM Gord Ash.

Ash also said that Alex Periard, another right-hander added to the roster during the offseason, received a cortisone injection earlier this week because of lingering soreness in his right shoulder. The injury prevented Periard from participating in big league camp, and he was formally optioned to Double-A Huntsville on March 16.

“If he doesn’t react well to the shot, we’ll probably have to do a scope,” said Ash, referring to a surgical procedure to determine the precise nature of Periard’s injury.

In brighter Minor League news, left fielder Ryan Braun and infielder Craig Counsell got three plate appearances apiece in the Triple-A game on Saturday and were no worse for the wear. Braun, of course, is still fighting a strained muscle at the back of his ribcage and Counsell has been slowed by swelling in his right knee.

On the eve of the Cactus League opener, the Brewers reassigned four players to Minor League camp on Tuesday including former first-round Draft pick Mark Rogers.

Besides Rogers, pitcher Alex Periard, outfielder Jason Bourgeois and catcher Martin Maldonado packed their backs and moved to the Minor League complex at Maryvale Baseball Park, where a mini-camp is underway. Injuries were behind the move for Rogers (shoulder), Periard (shoulder) and Bourgeois (broken pinkie), while Maldonado was sent out because the team has seven other catchers in camp.

Bourgeois will be called back to big league camp when his pinkie heals, manager Ken Macha said.

- Outfielder Ryan Braun is the Brewers’ resident fashion mogul. A story about his new clothing line, Remetee, will be on Brewers.com later today.

- The Brewers were unable to find a willing opponent for a “B” game on March 4 so manager Ken Macha instead scheduled an intrasquad game to keep his pitchers on track. For now, that’s left-hander Manny Parra’s day to pitch, and he will face a lineup of Minor Leaguers assembled by farm director Reid Nichols.

The Brewers do have a “B” game scheduled for March 10 in Surprise, Ariz. against the Rangers. They will play another intrasquad game on Tuesday in advance of the Feb. 25 Cactus League opener.

- Assistant general manager Gord Ash had his sit-down with Mat Gamel, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Macha was also there as the Brewers laid out their expectations for Gamel, who once again has a surprise injury. The good news is that his right shoulder impingement is not considered serious, and while Gamel is limited from throwing he was able to take part in batting practice on Thursday.

- Brewers pitchers faced hitters for the first time on Thursday. R.J. Swindle’s slow, looping curveball elicited some awkward swings, and some of the club’s baseball officials gathered to watch Trevor Hoffman face a group that included Brad Nelson.

- A downright skinny Ray King dropped by Maryvale Baseball Park and said he’s looking for a job. King, a left-handed reliever who pitched for the Brewers from 2000-2002 and again at the end of 2007, appeared in only 12 games last season for Washington but posted a 2.25 ERA in 32 games for the Astros’ Triple-A club and then pitched well in the Dominican Republic over the winter. He said he has been throwing at his nearby home in Litchfield park, Ariz. and is open to even a Triple-A job. The offseason market has not been kind to the 35-year-old.

“Crickets,” King said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

- Brewers Minor Leaguer Alex Periard was thrilled when the Brewers signed Eric Gagne and assigned him a spot in the clubhouse four lockers away. Periard and Gagne are both natives of Quebec, and Periard has never had a Franch-speaking teammate. Gagne has; he teamed with catcher Russell Martin in Los Angeles.

- Jeff Suppan took the “gold medal” in a bunting competition earlier this week between Brewers pitchers. Lindsay Gulin won the silver medal and Mark Rogers took home the bronze.

- Macha plans to control opponents’ running game from the bench this season. Last year, then-bench coach Ted Simmons allowed catchers Jason Kendall and Mike Rivera to do it themselves, meaning the players didn’t have to look into the dugout for signs calling for pickoffs and the like. Macha thinks coaches have a better perspective of what opponents are trying to do from the bench.

- Third base coach Brad Fisher started a new camp tradition on Thursday. Every morning before the Brewers stretch, one of the team’s Minor Leaguers will be subjected to a question and answer session. Judging by the laughter coming from the group that surrounded catching prospect Angel Salome, there were some good questions.

- The MLB Network is making the rounds in the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues and will feature the Brewers on Sunday, March 15 at 7 p.m. CT. Former FSN Wisconsin sideline reporter Trenni Kusnierek will file the report.

Five players, including third baseman Bill Hall and outfielder Tony Gwynn, Jr., will be restricted from activity when Brewers pitchers, catchers and the handful of position players already in camp take part in the team’s first Spring Training workout on Sunday.

A rundown of the injury updates that emerged from physical exams on Saturday:

- Head team physical William Raasch confirmed the original diagnosis for third baseman Bill Hall, who has a partially torn left calf muscle and will be sidelined about 4-6 weeks. Club spokesperson Mike Vassallo said Raasch was “encouraged” by Hall’s improvement from Friday, when Hall underwent an MRI scan.

Hall was injured on Thursday while working out at a private facility in the Phoenix area. If he progresses on schedule, he could be fully rehabilitated by Opening Day on April 7.

- Gwynn, a left-handed hitter but a right-handed thrower, is restricted from throwing because of a right shoulder impingement . Gwynn is out of Minor League options and has a great chance of making the Opening Day roster for the second straight season, assuming he gets healthy.

- Speedy utility man Jason Bourgeois is restricted from activity because of a fracture of the fifth metacarpal of his left hand. In other words, he has a broken left pinkie. The 26 year-old spent most of the 2008 season at Triple-A Charlotte in the Chicago White Sox system, hitting .286 with a .335 on-base percentage, nine home runs, 83 runs scored and 30 stolen bases in 41 attempts.

- Right-hander Alex Periard, who was just added to the 40-man roster over the winter, is restricted from throwing because of tightness in his right shoulder. Periard, 21 and one of the Brewers’ recent Canadian imports, was a 16th round pick in 2004 who almost certainly will begin the year in the Minors. During the 2008 regular season, Periard was 11-10 with a 4.06 ERA in 26 starts and one relief appearance between Class A Brevard County and Double-A Huntsville.

Rogers, another recent addition to the 40-man roster, has missed the past two seasons because of shoulder issues and Capuano, who is back with the Brewers on a Minor League contract, is rehabbing from his second career Tommy John surgery. The Brewers hope Capuano is ready to pitch by May 1 or so.

Because so many Brewers position players have reported to camp early, only nine players will have to undergo physicals on Wednesday, prior to the team’s first full-squad workout.

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